COVID-19 in Houston: British variant found in 31 of 39 water treatment plants, city says

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) – According to the Houston Health Authority, Dr. David Persse, the British variety is found “in large quantities” and is rapidly spreading throughout the city.

He said on Feb. 8 that the British variant was found in 21 of the city’s 39 wastewater treatment plants. Fourteen days later, on February 22, he said the variant was found in 31 of the 39 treatment plants.

“19% of all the virus tested in urban wastewater has the genome that matches the British variant,” Persse said. “That doesn’t mean 19% of people in Houston are infected with the British variety … that doesn’t mean that. We know there is a fairly large amount of the British variety in our community and it is spreading.”

WHAT ABOUT OTHER VARIANTS?

As of Monday afternoon, Persse said the wastewater is being tested for other COVID-19 variants, such as the Brazilian and South African variants.

However, the measurements have not been completed, so no new data was available to report, Persse said.

“We are concerned that people are dropping their guard and not wearing their masks and gathering in a way that they wouldn’t,” he said. Remember that the UK variant is the one that spreads much more easily. Those viruses are in the community, so the race is on to get as many people vaccinated as possible before the UK variant can take over and make sure we have another wave. “

NEW FIGURES

As of Monday afternoon, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said the positivity rate in the city is now 13.1%, which is up since last week.

The city’s health department said this is the second straight week in which the positivity rate has increased slightly.

In addition, the city has reported 318 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases to 175,150. The death toll now stands at 2,018.

“We continue to make progress [and] get people vaccinated, but we’re nowhere near immunity to landing herds, “said Turner.

“A LITTLE BIT OF HOPE”

Texas is two days away from being “100%” open, but Turner offered what he described as “a ray of hope.”

During his briefing on Monday, Turner said the owner of Concrete Cowboy, a popular Houston bar on Washington Avenue, had written to Turner an email letting him know that a planned ‘mask-off’ party has been canceled.

“We never intended to host a party where we encourage customers not to wear a mask,” said the email, read by Turner during his briefing. “I am a business owner of multiple locations in the Washington corridor and public safety is our primary concern.”

READ MORE: Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner Wants Planned ‘Maskless Parties’ Canceled In Bars

The lifting of the Texas mask mandate and the various “mask-off parties” have raised concerns about other similar events from other states coming to Texas. Turner said promoters in states that are not allowed to operate 100% and are forced to wear a mask are promoting to bring those events to cities like Houston, Dallas and Austin.

Turner said Concrete Cowboy will not be open Wednesday night.

“Now is not the time to drop our masks or drop our guard in the fight against the pandemic,” said Turner.